Method of generating pattern via laser cutting process on a cloth or fabric

ABSTRACT

A method of generating pattern via laser cutting process, comprising the step of: 
     1) Inputting the designed pattern into a computer system; 
     2) Putting a material beneath a laser beam; 
     3) Under the control of the computer system, moving the laser beam over the material or moving the material beneath the laser beam in accordance with the pattern input into the computer system so as to cut and generate the pattern with hollow and penetrated shape. On the cloth or fabric material made by this method, the pattern with hollow shape is clear and regular and the fiber threads can&#39;t be shed by the laser-sheared edge.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method of generating pattern usinglaser processing and a material made by this method, particularly to amethod of generating a pattern via laser cutting process on a cloth or afabric material and a material made by this method.

BACKGROUND ART

Current leno patterns formed with conventional method on cloth ortextile, are generally further processes on the sheared edge of thepattern, e.g. sealing the sheared edge with a fine thread, to preventthe fiber from being irregular and shedding. In a CN patent applicationNo. 97112584.8, i.e. No. CN1168937A published on Dec. 31, 1997, apattern generating method through laser processing had been disclosed,wherein, the designed pattern was primarily input into a computersystem. Then the material was dyed with deep color and put beneath ascanning laser beam of laser scanner. Under the control of the computersystem, scanning movement of the laser beam on the material was operatedaccording to the pattern input to the computer. The areas on thematerial after laser illumination were decolorized, and the contrastagainst the areas without laser illumination appears in comparison,thereby the designed pattern being directly shown on the material. Thelimitation is, wherein, said material must be dyed with deep color.While white or light cloth or fabric can only be adapted for theinvention via deep color dyeing. Hence, it is impossible to generate apattern directly under the premise of keeping original light coloraccording to that invention. In other words, the scope of work ispractically reduced by that invention. Moreover, the process of dye notonly complicates the procedure and increases the cost, but also requiresthat the energy of laser should be controlled exactly during operation.Otherwise, if the energy is too small, the decolorized effect isinsignificant. If the energy is too strong, the cloth shall becarbonized. Thereby it difficult to realize the object of generatingpattern according to that invention. Due to the utilization of dye, itis even causes not only complicated procedure and operation but alsoenvironmental pollution.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In view of these facts, in order to prevent material from shedding dueto irregularity, simplify the procedures and operation, save the cost,enlarge the scope of work of the cloth and reduce environmentalpollution to the greatest extent, the inventor created a method ofmaterial cutting to generate a hollow pattern employing laser processingon the cloth or fabric.

An object of the invention is to provide a method of generating patternvia laser cutting process so as to overcome the drawbacks of materialshedding due to irregularity, relatively complicated procedures andoperation, higher cost, narrower scope of work for the cloth andunavoidable environment pollution.

The method of generating a pattern via laser cutting process comprisingthe following step:

1) Input the designed pattern into a computer system;

2) Put a material beneath a laser beam;

3) Under the control of the computer system, moving the laser beam overthe material or moving the material beneath the laser beam in accordancewith the pattern input into the computer system so as to cut andgenerate the pattern with hollow and penetrated shape;

4) The edge of the pattern with hollow shape of the said material is aclear non-shedding laser-sheared edge.

After laser cutting, the sheared edge is extremely regular and the fiberthreads can't be exposed and shed. Therefore, the desired clear patterncan be formed one-off without further process for the sheared edge.

In above method of the invention, the said material may be any materialhaving any color, e.g. deep, light, white or natural color, syntheticfiber, or blend fabric blending synthetic fiber with natural fiber.Preferably, said laser emits 50 to 400 μJ of energy with 0.25 to 10,000Hz of pulse. When the frequency of laser pulse exceeds 10,000 Hz, thereleased energy should be preferably controlled within the scope of 0.5to 200 W.

The said method is characterized in that when the thickness of the saidmaterial is 0.3-0.5 mm, the laser energy is 75-100 μJ with 2000 Hz oflaser pulse.

The said method is characterized in that when the thickness of the saidmaterial is 0.5-0.7 mm, the laser energy is 100-150 μJ with 3000 Hz oflaser pulse.

The requirement for laser energy depends on the thickness of thematerial and the reaction of the material to the laser.

The method of generating a pattern via the laser cutting process of theinvention, has the advantages of cutting pattern to hollow shape, clearpattern, regular and unshed fabric, simple process and operation, lowercost, broader scope of work to the cloth, no pollution and higherefficiency.

The other object of the invention is to provide a kind of cloth orfabric material, which has clear pattern and regular fabric and that thefiber threads can't be shed by the sheared edge.

To realize the above object, the cloth or fabric material made by thesaid method in this invention, is characterized in that the pattern ofthe said material is generated in hollow penetrated shape and the edgeof the pattern with hollow shape is a clear non-shedding laser-shearededge.

The said cloth or fabric material is characterized in that the saidmaterial may be synthetic fiber or blend fabric blended synthetic fiberwith natural fiber having any color.

The said cloth or fabric material is characterized in that the thicknessof the said material is 0.3-0.7 mm.

The said cloth or fabric material is characterized in that the patternof the said material is a flower pattern.

In order to comprehend further the object, technical features and effectof the invention, the specific content and embodiments of the inventionshall be described in detail incorporating with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the method ofgenerating pattern via laser cutting process according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic process diagram illustrating the method ofgenerating pattern via laser cutting process according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic pattern generated with the method of generatingpattern via laser cutting process according to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic process diagram illustrating the method ofgenerating pattern via laser process according to the prior art (CNapplication No.97112584.8).

FIG. 5 is a schematic pattern generated with the method of generatingpattern via laser process according to the prior art of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a schematic pattern of embodiment 2 according to theinvention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic pattern of embodiment 3 according to theinvention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic pattern of embodiment 4 according to theinvention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 1, in the embodiment 1, the designer inputs thedesigned pattern to the computer system. Then the white synthetic fibermaterial having 0.3 mm thickness is put beneath the laser beam. Underthe control of the computer system, the laser beam moves over thematerial in accordance with the pattern input to the computer system,and then an original design pattern is generated on the material vialaser cutting.

As shown in FIG. 2, in above embodiment, after laser cutting, anoriginal designed pattern is generated on the 0.3 mm thickness of whitesynthetic fiber material. The phenomenon of fiber shedding cannot appearon the scanned areas. And then a hollow flower pattern as shown in FIG.3 is generated due to the contrast to the areas without scanning. In theembodiment, the emitted energy is 80 μJ with 2000 Hz of laser pulse.

Referring to FIG. 4, a referenced embodiment is shown. The designerinputs the designed pattern into a computer system. Then the 0.5 mmthickness of white synthetic fiber material is dyed with deep blue andput beneath the laser beam of laser scanner. Under the control of thecomputer system, a pattern as shown in FIG. 5 is pictured on thematerial via laser scanning according to the input design pattern. Inthe referenced embodiment, the emitted energy is 100 μJ with 2500 Hz oflaser pulse.

If the thickness of the material varies, the utilized laser energyshould also be changed. If different material has a different reactionto a laser, the utilized laser energy should also be adjusted.

According to said method of the embodiment 1, the tests of embodiment2-4 are performed under the different condition of material type, color,thickness and laser energy as described in table 1.

Laser energy/ Thick- Pulse Type Color ness (μJ/Hz) Embodiment Syntheticfiber cloth A Deep 0.3  75/2,000 2 Embodiment Blend fabric cloth Bblending Deep 0.5 100/2,000 3 synthetic fiber with natural fiberEmbodiment Blend fabric cloth C blending Light 0.7 150/3,000 4 syntheticfiber with natural fiber

Carrying out the tests according to the conditions indicated in table 1,the patterns as shown in FIG. 6-8 can be acquired. Viewing from theresults of embodiments 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the invention, whatever materialis selected from synthetic fiber cloth, blend fabric cloth blendingsynthetic fiber with natural fiber, deep, light or white cloth, thepatterns can be generated with some features of cutting pattern tohollow shape, clear pattern, regular and unshed fabric, unexposed thrum,simple process and operation, lower cost, broader scope of work to thecloth, no pollution and higher efficiency.

From the results of the referenced embodiment, however, it can be seenthat the pattern as shown in FIG. 5 generated through inputting thedesigned pattern into the computer system and dyeing the white syntheticfiber cloth with deep blue and putting the cloth beneath the laser beamand scanning the cloth in accordance with the input pattern is picturedon the cloth directly with non-hollow shape.

Consequently, from FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, it can be seen that the mostdistinct difference of the patterns between the invention and thereferenced embodiment is that the pattern of the invention presents ahollow shape, and the pattern is clearer and better integral feeling,having a stronger artistry, just like a paper-cut.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

To sum up, the method of generating a pattern via the laser cuttingprocess of the invention is an innovative method for cutting material togenerate pattern of hollow shape. The design pattern is input into thecomputer system and the movement of the laser beam or material throughcomputer system and scanning and cutting the material is controlled inaccordance with the input pattern, the pattern with hollow shape shallbe presented along the cut track on the material. The above method hasthe advantages of clear and regular shaping, unexposed thrum, simpleprocess and operation, lower cost, no pollution and higher efficiency.

1. A method of generating a pattern via a laser cutting process,comprising the step of: 1) inputting a designed pattern into a computersystem; 2) putting a material beneath a laser beam; 3) under the controlof the computer system, moving the laser beam over the material ormoving the material beneath the laser beam in accordance with thepattern input into the computer system so as to cut and generate thepattern with hollow shape; wherein the edge of the generated patternwith hollow and penetrated shape of the material is a clear non-sheddinglaser-sheared edge; said laser emitting 50-400 μJ of energy with0.25-10,000 Hz of pulse, or 0.5-200 W of power with more than 10,000 Hzof pulse.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the said materialis cloth or fabric with any color.
 3. The method according to claim 2,wherein the said cloth is selected from synthetic fiber or blendblending synthetic fiber with natural fiber.
 4. The method according toclaim 2, wherein the said fabric is selected from synthetic fiber orblend blending synthetic fiber with natural fiber.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 2 wherein the thickness of the cloth or fabric isfrom 0.3 to 0.5 mm and wherein the laser energy is from 75-100 μJ withabout a 2000 Hz laser pulse.
 6. The method according to claim 1 whereinthe thickness of said cloth or fabric is 0.5-0.7 mm and wherein thelaser energy is 100-150 μJ with about a 3000 Hz laser pulse.